Gamer Critic Anita Sarkeesian Faces Rape And Murder Threats

Anita Sarkeesian, a feminist and outspoken critic of sexism in video games (from titles like GTA V) is being threatened with rape and murder all across social media after the latest entry in her Tropes Vs. Women In Video Games series, which she has posted on her Feminist Frequency channel on YouTube.

In today’s modern age of the internet, it becomes increasingly difficult to take an unpopular stand on an issue without facing some sort of backlash. This seems especially true in the case of the gaming world, for many gamers (read: not all) aren’t exactly known for their finesse or their levelheadedness, and are very quick to jump to the most serious of threats. Badass Digest put it best in their recent article:

“It’s hard to self-identify as ‘a gamer’ when there’s also a large swathe of that community apparently committed to presenting us all as a bunch of hateful sociopaths. It’s like being a moderate Muslim in the middle of the continuing ISIS takeover and oppression of Iraq. A few weeks ago, I’d have said that was an extreme analogy, but given the events of the past week, it’s become clear that it’s actually really f**king appropriate.”

This is especially true in the case of Anita Sarkeesian, who two years ago funded (with donations 26 times over her goal amount) a Kickstarter for her Tropes Vs. Women In Video Games series, which dissects and criticizes the objectification of women in video games since their creation decades ago. Needless to say, some people aren’t taking Sarkeesian’s criticism sitting down. While the feminist has assuredly been facing backlash from the very beginning, a posting of a video on YouTube from a user called Thunderf00t may be responsible for bringing Sarkeesian even more hate than usual, notes Venture Beat.

Below is a reply to Anita Sarkeesian’s Feminist Frequency account on Twitter, making reference to the Thunderf00t video. Please keep in mind that the details are very graphic in language and not safe for work:

“Go ahead, screen capture this and tweet it you piece of shit” ummm… ok. I’m not afraid of strawman “rebuttals”. pic.twitter.com/8B74uYJOOU

In the Thunderf00t-posted video in question, Anita Sarkeesian is called out as a liar for improperly labeling scenes or characters in certain games as sexist, when it is anything but. Rather than chocking it up to a mistake in research, Thunderf00t asserts that she is purposefully lying in order to rally people around her cause. Many users have used the video as leverage from which to spout even more hate against Sarkeesian — and very often in the process, they end up proving the whole point of her videos. Below is another series of hateful tweets from a single user posted earlier in the week.

This one seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in how terrifying it is, with its claims of knowing where Sarkeesian and her parents both live. Again, as with the post above, the language in this post is very graphic:

I usually don’t share the really scary stuff. But it’s important for folks to know how bad it gets [TRIGGER WARNING] pic.twitter.com/u6b3i0fysI

Clearly, this goes deeper than gaming, and is a problem that reaches deep into the most remote parts of our modern culture as a whole. No one ever says change is easy, and with a culture that started out so male-dominated, things take time. Even now, however, gaming news sources are rallying to Anita Sarkeesian’s side, and with all the attention this brings to her feminist cause, perhaps through this horrifying ordeal, even this smallest bit of change can be made to create a more united future.